By Joanna Putman
Police1
GREENWOOD, Ark. — The Greenwood Police Department has released body camera footage from a pursuit that led to the rescue of a baby, miraculously uninjured, from the mangled suspect vehicle, 5 News reported.
The March 8 incident began when officers were alerted to a suspected stolen vehicle, according to the report. After the officers attempted to intercept the vehicle, the driver, now identified as Kelvin Willis, began to evade. Willis reached speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour and wove through traffic during the pursuit.
Shortly after the Arkansas State Police joined the pursuit, the suspect vehicle left the roadway and crashed into a traffic light pole as well as another vehicle, according to the report. Willis was pronounced dead on the scene, while a passenger in the vehicle was severely injured.
“Once at the crash scene, the vehicle was lying on its passenger side. I could hear yelling coming from inside the vehicle. Officers attempted to extract the driver and passenger but were unable to do so because of the extensive damage. I then heard a crying baby coming from the back seat. I was able to climb into the back seat and cut the seat belt free and pull the car seat up to the window. The baby was only strapped in by her shoulder straps,” an officer wrote in a police report obtained by News 5.
Body camera video obtained by News 5 shows the officers on the scene reacting in alarm as a screaming child was pulled from the wreckage. The passenger said that the baby was his child and that he did not know Willis or why he fled. Both the baby and the passenger were transported to the hospital, according to the report.